The invention relates to hand tools and has for its object to provide an improvement therein.
According to the invention, a hand tool includes a blade or tool part with a connected tang, a handle part with an aperture extending axially from one end for receiving the tang, and locking means for locking the handle part on said tang, said locking means being constituted by a locking pin extending diametrically across the handle part intermediate the ends of the aperture for receiving the tang, and the tang being provided with a slot opening from its free end for the passage of the locking pin along said slot to a cross bore in said tang as the latter is received in the aperture in the handle part, the locking pin being rotatable or axially movable to engage it with the cross bore in the tang when the tang has been fully inserted in said handle part. The locking pin may be provided with oppositely disposed flats so that it can only be passed along the slot in the tang when apropriately orientated and in this case will preferably be provided with a lever pivotally connected to it at one end. The arrangement will preferably be such that when the handle has been secured to the tang the lever can be at least partly located in an inoperative position in a recess formed in the side surface of the handle part. Also in this case, the locking pin will preferably be retained in position in the handle part by means of a spring clip fitted at its end remote from the lever, the arrangement being such that the spring clip allows some slight cross-movement of the locking pin when lugs formed on said lever bear against the handle part, conveniently through the intermediary of a washer, as the lever is pivoted to an operative position, the return movement of the locking pin under the action of said spring clip when the lever is returned to its inoperative position causing said lever to be maintained in closed condition in the recess formed in the side surface of the handle part. On the other hand, the locking pin may be axially movable against the force of a spring, the arrangement being such that when the tang has been inserted in the handle part and the locking pin is released the force of the spring imparts a cross-movement to the locking pin to bring an enlargement formed on said pin into engagement with the cross bore in the tang. The tang will preferably be of cylindrical form and a shoulder will preferably be provided against which the handle part can abut when the tang has been inserted fully in the axially extending aperture. The slot in the tang will preferably be provided with a chamfer forming a lead-in for the locking pin as the tang is entered into the aperture in the handle part.